SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 29: Members of the Houston Texans, including Kevin Johnson #30 and Lamarr Houston #58, kneel during the national anthem before the game at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Halfway through the NFL season it is clear that protests by players during the National Anthem are hurting the league's broadcasters and sponsors.

As the Sporting News just reported, "NFL game telecasts averaged 14.772 million viewers during the first eight weeks of the season, according to Nielsen data obtained by Sporting News. That figure is down 5% from 15.549 million viewers during the first half of the 2016 season and off 18.7% from 18.167 million viewers for the same period in 2015 — before former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick inspired a debate about racial injustice by sitting, then taking a knee, during the national anthem."

Meanwhile, the latest poll on the issue, by Seton Hall University, showed "nearly a third - 30% - said they were watching fewer games this season (9% were watching more, 55% about the same), and that 52% of those watching less gave the reason as players protesting the national anthem."

And Wall Street analysts have been trimming their earnings forecasts for CBS and Fox due to lower NFL ratings. In September, the Hollywood Reporter reportedJefferies analyst John Janedis figures CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC will generate about $2.5 billion in NFL advertising revenue this season, but a 10% shortfall could translate to a $200 million cut in earnings.

Investors are worried.

While the overall stock market is up since the start of the football season, shares of the league's broadcasters--CBS, Twenty-First Century Fox, Walt Disney (ESPN) are down. High-profile sponsors like Papa John's (long synonymous with the NFL due largely to former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning's status as a spokesperson and franchisee for the company), Anheuser-Busch InBev (Budweiser is paying $1.4 billion to be the league's official beer sponsor through 2022)--whose shares were outpacing the market during the three-month period to the kickoff of the NFL season--have been under-performers.

Amazon's streaming of Thursday Night Football has not delivered enough viewers to suggest the downward turn in tv ratings is from people moving to a different platform. Amazon's average audience for the first two TNF games were 372,000 and 391,000, respectively.